5 Ways To Save Money

I'm always thinking of ways to save and make money. Recently I had been sitting around browsing online at amazon.com and ran into some things that I would like to have for myself. Not having the money to buy want I want sometimes can be very disappointing. So sitting on my couch, I started to think about the different ways to save money, and decided to get on it to see how much I can really save. Having money set aside not only provides emergency funds when needed, but also provides you with those extra funds that always comes in handy during the holidays.I like to spoil myself when I can which is another reason I wanted to find ways to save and make money. Below I've listed five ways that you can easily follow that will allow you to save some extra cash.

1. Grocery Shopping - The next time you head to your local grocery store try the following tips. Before you even start to list the items you need, think about what you would like to eat that week. Next find recipes for the dishes you decide upon. After you get your recipe, you are ready to write down what you will need to buy from the grocery store based on the ingredients that your recipes calls for. Doing this will avoid you going to the store and buying things you don't need, which will reduce throwing food away that have reached their expiration date. Clipping coupons can be time consuming and too much of a hassle, but with technology improving they are ways to speed up this process and make it a lot more rewarding to use your coupons. Some grocery stores have features online that allow you to scroll through coupons then add them to your cart,  when you arrive at the store all you do is scan your member card and it automatically uses your selected coupons for you. This makes it so much easier checking out at the store, and not worrying about everyone looking at you because you are slowing down the lines with your coupons.
2. Movie Night - Going to a movie these days can be expensive. You arrive at the theater and buy two tickets and you are paying $12 to $15 depending if it's a 3D movie or not. Then you might want to buy popcorn and some drinks, probably another $15, already you're down about $45. Let's say you do dinner that same night which might let's just say $20 if you go to any sit down restaurant, meaning not McDonald's, Burger King, etc, basically any restaurant that you'd be leaving a tip for the waitress. Okay, so now you have spent roughly about $65 for your typical dinner and a movie night. I love getting out the house and having a good time, but sometimes going with cheaper option can be the way to go. Instead of going out, you could always rent a movie from the redbox $1 or get one from Amazon, Vudu or any other services you might use for about $5 or so. For food you could order in at one of your favorite local restaurants, probably spend about $20, and overall about $25 instead of $65 for a date night. Now if you still want to get out the house but don't wanna spend much, you could also go to a drive in movie theater. You'll get to see two movies for the price of one and you can take some food and drinks with you, enjoy the night skies at the same time while watching your movie. Another little trick I use to cut down on my night out with my girlfriend is by using Groupons, Groupons basically allows you to try out different restaurants at half the price or even more sometimes. Check out www.groupons.com for more info.
3. Piggy Bank - Go out and buy yourself a piggy bank. My sister and brother in law came out with the idea that whenever they come home, whatever pocket change they come home with goes into the piggy bank, no questions. Sometimes one of them will get caught with $50 or more and they would have to drop it in into the piggy bank. You would really be surprised how much you could end up saving at year end. Personally, I usually would drop whatever silver coins I have into my piggy bank and sometimes some bills if I feel I could go without it. Even though you might think it is stupid to have a piggy bank, cause it doesnt earn you interest. I think of it this way, how many of us are going to make a trip to the bank to deposit some coins or a few dollars? Having that piggy bank at your house makes it easier to just drop it in, just make sure you can't get into your piggy bank easily. 
4. Sell unwanted items - Look through your closet, storage, or garage to see if you have things you haven't used in quite some time and see if you can sell them. Start by finding friends who will buy your unwanted things. Host a garage sale if you have the time, list your items online on craiglist, ebay, amazon, or even your blogging website and see if they will sell. No need to let your unwanted items sit there and collect dust, so get rid of them. Anytime I get a new cell phone, I list my old one on ebay and it never fails to sell.
5. Get a second job - Working a second job sucks by all and any means, but having a second job when you don't actually need it can be very rewarding. If your main job provides enough income to comfortably pay off all your bills without any struggle, then getting a second job will do justice for you. The second job will allow you to save your extra income and deposit to a savings account, or you could use it to pay off your debt much faster. Plus since that second job isn't really needed to pay off your main bills, you could quit whenever you don't think you can handle working the extra hours any longer.